The (Un)Spoken Fear

Whitewater Hillary put her foot in her mouth in South Dakota this past week suggesting that she was going to continue to fight on in the Democratic nomination race into June because her husband did not clinch until June in 1992 and that Robert Kennedy was also assassinated in June in California. Maureen Dowd in her New York Times column this weekend suggested that Hillary was merely pointing out that she is staying in the race because "stuff happens."


She's right. Stuff does happen. Scandals erupt. Candidates trip up. They end up in You Tube videos making racist comments. They end up with pictures of them smoking crack. However, Waterwater Hillary was actually spilling, in a fatigued stressful moment, a latent fear that many people have regarding this election cycle that no one was willing to speak about.


Oprah Obama has been compared throughout the campaign as the next Robert Kennedy or the next John Kennedy. People have made this comparison on two levels. In 1960, no body thought that America was ready to elect a Roman Catholic president. But, America did. John Kennedy infused a avalanche of hope and energy to a America that sorely needed a change. This is the second level that Oprah Obama is also riding on. He has infused energy, hope, and change into this election that has not been seen since 1968 when RFK had the nomination in hand and met his tragic fate. Obama comes to this election cycle at a time where change is desperately needed just as it was needed in 1960. No one can or should deny the impact of the result of all of this hope and change that was advertised by JFK and RFK. America has not been the same since the deaths of RFK and Martin Luther King Jr. in the spring of 1968. However, the similarities are stunning. Again, America has now been wrestling with questions regarding whether or not we, as a nation, are ready. This time for an African-American or a woman to be President (a much bigger issue than religion). It would be incredibly delusional for anyone to believe that there are not elements, dark and sinister, in America who would not only not ever vote for a black man or a woman as President, but would stop at nothing to make sure it never happened.


I am not suggesting that anything tragic will happen, but it has been in the back of people's minds. The Secret Service issued a security cardon to Oprah Obama in March, which is the earliest that a cardon was ever issued to a candidate. Whether or not this was done as a direct result to an identifiable threat is unknown, but it is clear that there is a fear factor involved.


Both Obama and Clinton are trying to make history by breaking through a ceiling that very few people thought would be broken in their lifetime. They are both the closest to get within reach of that ceiling in our history. History has shown us, over and over, that people who are trying to break through the racial or gender ceiling that was dominated by one ethic group or demographic did so in the face of incredible odds as well as threats of violence. We should again learn from history and understand that in these historic yet dangerous times that we have two high profile candidates who are in the same boat with their historic predecessors. I suspect that given the historic context that Clinton and Obama are operating under that they have both been subject to threats and other security concerns. Not only because they are candidates for President, but because, sadly, of their gender or race.


Many columnists are roasting Hillary this weekend, but I am not. Though her comments were ill-timed and unfortunate, I am not inclined to destroy her for it. I believe that her statement was a reflection of an unconscious fear that as her and her opponent march towards that glass ceiling that the road may be filled with hidden real dangers. It is history that we must learn from in this case or we may have to relearn it all over again.